


Pining from Inquiry

by purplefox



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, M/M, Rebirth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 20:22:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20766413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplefox/pseuds/purplefox
Summary: Akira had not asked to be brought back. He had left in such an awful way. He honestly has the worst luck that the person he had failed to get along with in his past life has their eyes on him. He even got more beautiful





	Pining from Inquiry

**Author's Note:**

> My darling dragged out my feels for a certain fandom so this is an AU of that thing because Shukita can do anything lol

Living again was something that Akira would have to say honestly he had never expected to happen again. He had lived with pain he had lived with regrets. Things he had wanted to say and do he had never gotten the chance to do and now he would never have that chance.

But even though he knew he would never get to tell certain people certain things again he was not angry. He recalled his time before death, at least most of it. The time leading up to his actual death was still a blur and for Akira that was just honestly a blessing.

There had been so much pain, so much hatred but now he could sigh with relief. Thirteen years after his death and he could wander around like this. A new body for his weary soul. He had not asked for this, death was death. The previous owner had a request for him and it had been too easy to fulfil.

So Akira could wander around and settle somewhere. He could do that. Many people would do that but his past was not that easy to run away from. People still cursed his name, it was actually sort of amusing to hear how horrible he was.

Even when they had depended on him before. Even when they continued to use his skills and his research long after his death. While they used his things, coveted his previous skills that he had gained with blood and agony.

It had not been easy when he was alive but now that he was dead he could do something he had not done since he had been a boy.

Laugh.

He could laugh at those that cursed his name but used his tools and his research. Those that coveted his things while they pondered about his burning soul. He could happily wander from small town to small town a wine jar in his hand and laugh.

At least he had managed to do that for a full month before trouble came. Unnatural beasts could not leave Akira alone. He was not afraid; he had not been afraid before and he certainly was not going to be now. It was just annoying.

Where beasts tread men would follow and while normal people found these creatures horrifying. Akira found the people who liked to hunt them far more beastly than any twisted corrupted beast could be. The beasts and creatures even looked cute to him.

Not all the people were unsightly but Akira no longer had anyone alive in this world. His friends, those he had called family. He doubted any of them would have been allowed to live after his death. If any had lived past the final assault. After he had died there was no doubt that they would have been put to the sword.

Even those plenty would have coveted. Akira leaned forward on his mount and allowed himself a moment to let a shuddering breath escape. It was so painful to think of. So painful to recall what he had seen and what he had done.

To survive he had wandered down a grey path. A path that he had been forced down and no one had cared. People had praised him in war time and hunted him in peace time. They had not understood him and Akira had spent too much time fighting to want to kneel and seek that understanding.

He had been a naïve brat he could look back and see that now. He had endured, he had clawed his way up and he had succeeded only to be dragged down by his own.

Crabs in a bucket except his fall had also been of his own making. He had been unable to save, unable to protect and in the end he had been unable to fight. The only good thing that had come out of his fall was that he doubted that anyone else would be able to fall down the path just like him.

Hellfire was not to be underestimated and while Akira had made many friends on the other side and he had pushed himself to the limit. Those who considered themselves decent saw him as a disgusting enemy. He was blood covered and hidden in darkness while they were bathed in the blue sky and shrouded in light and white.

Even after all this time Akira found it hilarious. In this body that was called Ren he was looking to find something. Not continue his research. Not look for trouble but drink and wander his way to see things he had never been able to see before. Maybe look for his previous hideouts because as diligent as his pursuers had been even after thirteen years, Akira doubted that they had gotten all his places.

X

He had not been planning to help them. No one had helped them and things had been far worse than a cute little corpse wrecking havoc. Granted the farmer’s field was going to take plenty of purifying afterwards. That was not a matter people had to be concerned about just yet.

Akira sat on his field pony as he watched the young members desperately try to get into formation. One of them was bound to get bitten. The corpse was a little stronger than Akira had thought when he first saw it. Just a little. Nothing that was out of their league.

Still, they just needed a moment to get together so they could bind and seal. A moment of pause. He had not been planning to help them in any way but he could lend assistance like this without them knowing. The corpse just needed to slow enough that they could bind and he could do that.

He could play many instruments and he could call and charm many beasts with them. He would have to say though that as dangerous as it was, a flute was still his favourite thing. Even though this was a poor one it could do enough.

Akira sat back his eyes on the dark sky as he raised the flute to his lips as he began to play. Something to enchant something to slow enough so that the cute little students could bind. The tune came easily to him and his power flowed with it.

He smiled as he played allowed his fingers to move as he heard excitement from below. The kids had done it then. Before he could even take the flute from his lips he felt a change in the wind. There was this surge of power that startled him.

He turned his eyes to the scene below and froze. A melody joined his, the sound of strings plucked artfully as the sound to bind. The power to bind filled the area. Akira felt his fingers trembled as he stopped playing. He had recognized the group by the clothes alone but was he that unlucky to run into someone who disliked him so intensely after being brought back?

The face and body was older, the hair. It had never been that long tumbling over his pale face and his clothes. The blue was so dark it looked black, it was more beautiful than Akira had last seen it.

That beautiful flawless way of playing. He knew that pale face even though it had changed by thirteen years. He was so mature now clothed in white and blue. He had gotten promoted and his impassive face had not changed one bit.

“Yusuke.” Akira swallowed as he looked at the man in the field. The corpse was effortlessly bound and he swallowed again as the wind blew strongly. “I have the same bad luck that I did in the past. But you’re as beautiful as always.” Even in the night Yusuke shone brightly.

X

“The job is done and I will be on my way.” Akira hooked his bow and arrows to his back as he eased his mount towards the direction of the mountains. “Yusuke is bad news. As beautiful as he is we’ve just always managed someone to run each other wrong.” And Akira had been trying to get along with him. “I wonder if his mentor still lives.” That man had been the cause for the majority of their clashes.

Yusuke was still beautiful and he had students under him. He was still strong. Even back then it had been a guess towards which of them was stronger. Yusuke had more stamina or at least before the war he had more stamina. During the war Akira had fought longer and harder. Into the night and then the morning then the night again.

But now without a doubt Yusuke was the stronger one now. His body was toned and trained. Akira was now training this body. No insult to Ren of course but as cute and helpful this nineteen year old body was. Akira’s original body was just so much better.

“But that’s ashes and dust now.” Akira sighed as he moved to the rhythm of his pony. “Just liked everyone else who stood with me.” He had heard about his friends. Those that had been killed, those that had been ground to dust. “It’s just me, my wine and you sweetie.” He teased the braid that he had done on the pony. “I’m glad you found me. Did Chio send you? I miss her.” He breathed softly. “I miss them all so much.”

X

“How much bad luck do I have.” Akira groaned as he shook his head at the students running around. “Chickens with their heads removed.” He complained as he gritted his teeth. “I have to do something. More of them will be killed if I just leave. There’s no time for the others to arrive.” It was a huge risk but still.

He had horrible luck. Akira swore over and over in his head as he stood on top of the cave entrance. He needed something powerful. He needed something that would make everything come to him long enough for the brats without equipment to get away. He could take care of those that hunted him on his own then.

He felt a tug at the side of his mind and he opened his eyes to see something he had never expected to see. He had thought that everything would have been torn to dust but he was wrong. it was not just that, this here he could not allow anyone else to find.

This was just one of the things wrecking havoc on the mountain but Akira needed to get this one back under his command. He could see various piercings and rods telling him a story of control by force.

However the true master was back and he would be taking his cute dog with him. He closed his eyes once more and focused not just his power but stories and commands into his flute. The air quietened as he played. He could feel the change and that was more than enough.

Then he felt a arm wrap around his waist and he froze as he looked back to see the shocked face of Yusuke behind him. There was no one else there was nothing else but the two of them but Akira honestly had the worst luck no matter what life he lived.

X

“You are.” Yusuke had not let any of his juniors look or even talk to Akira but he had not let Akira retrieve his valuable ‘dog’ either. “Akira.”

“Are you blind?” Akira knew his face was different. “Anyone can play the flute and dark music on a flute. My name is Ren.”

“Then what you just played is something you always knew? No one taught you that?” Yusuke’s grip was firm as he kept Akira caged against a tree. “You say your name is Ren.”

“My name is Ren.” Akira watched Yusuke slip the flute from his waistband. “I know your group is rich, why are you a thief?”

“If your name is Ren then why would I know this?” Yusuke asked before he began to play the flute. It was perfect. The same tune Akira had just played just minus the suggestions and power. That was nothing unexpected, it was when Yusuke played past what Akira had played. “I made this song.” Yusuke said softly. “And played for only one person.” Akira had the worst luck ever.

X

“How.” Yusuke said softly as he walked next to the pony. “Did you do it on your own?” He held the reins to the pony as if Akira would dash away.

“Do I seem the type?” Akira snorted before he sighed. “The previous owner of this body did something very stupid and very forbidden.” He stared up at the night sky before he said softly. “This is not the way to the capital.”

“We aren’t going there we are going to my group’s home. You can not just wander the fields and valleys. It is not safe. And we need to have a talk.” Yusuke’s voice was low and deep. “Many things happened after you were-“

“Killed.” Akira filled in. “You’re the next leader. If not you then the one that had been before you. Many things happened after I was killed. I’m sorry about your mentor.” He had been a slimy annoying man but Yusuke had adored him.

“Even in the end he gave a hard lesson.” Yusuke said softly. “But none of that is important now.” Akira was unable to help his smile at Yusuke’s words.

He reached out and ended up running his fingers through Yusuke’s hair. “You grew it. You turned out far more comely than I had thought you would.” Akira snickered. “We had both been fairly handsome but you, how do the girls even leave you alone? This hair. That skin.” Akira shook his head as he drew back. “You were always like some celestial being the rest of us could not even get close to.”

“I had been nothing of the sort. I had been in the company of adults my entire life. My values and the work we do…” Yusuke met his gaze with an unreadable emotion in his own. “I had not known how to connect properly.”

“I had always been doing my own thing and running wild.” Akira laughed. “We were boys. Those things happen when we are boys. Now you’re a man and once again… well I am still me. Even the part of getting in trouble and dragged back by Yusuke. But no Madarame to hurt my hands or make me kneel. Or rage at me.” He finished softly. “It is sort of sad.”

“Some of it yes.” Yusuke said softly. “But there are many things that I wished to say that I could not. Now I have the chance.”

“What a coincidence.” Akira laughed softly. “You know I said it many times before but I just know it never came across right. Yusuke.” His fingers reached for Yusuke’s hair again. “You’re gorgeous.” He smiled as he rubbed the hair between his fingers. “So strong, so beautiful.” He admitted before he sighed. So pretty that it hurt the eyes. “But all I know is how beautiful you are on the outside.” He admitted.

X

“The person that always told on me, now does what I used to do.” Akira sat in the window of Yusuke’s tower room and looked at the man that had not left him for a single moment. “Yusuke.”

“Akira.” Yusuke responded as he sat by the door. The drinks he had pulled form the rafters remained untouched. “Akira.” He whispered.

“Seeing you in this light, you really got pretty.” Akira admitted as he let his head slide back. He blinked up at the sky as he fumbled for his wine jar. “You said you wanted to talk. You said you wanted to speak. I had thought we had said everything that needed to be said before our last parting.

“I never got a chance to say anything that I wanted to really say.” Yusuke’s hard voice made Akira flinch. Yusuke’s head was bowed as he sat on the floor. “I always loved the way you played, your archery. Back in training my eyes were drawn to you. I hate the way you were so frivolous but the way you were so light and playful. I liked that. The things you talked about were dangerous but they made sense. Akira I never hated you even when you tried to turn my eyes to the truth. My tongue was just-“

“Heavy.” Akira said softly. “I was a brat as well. Why think about these frustrating sad things?” He raised his jar to his lips before he drank deeply. The burn made him snicker. “Little Ren was not a big drinker I see.”

“I wanted to take your hand.” Yusuke said softly as Akira drank slowly. “So many times. Before the war, after lessons. I wanted to follow you and I wanted to take your hand.”

“I also wanted to be your friend, a handsome guy like you?” Akira looked up as Yusuke came to stand next to him. “The regrets of youth Yusuke. I tried so hard but my approach was off. I should have done something else. Made it easier.” Akira laughed. “But I thought you hated me!” After he had run his mouth so many times. The fights they had done. “It’s nice to know that you had not hated me.”

Yusuke’s hair tumbled over his face as he leaned over Akira. the long dark strands surrounded them both and covered Akira’s own messy hair. “I had been unable to take my eyes off you.” Yusuke’s eyes were agonized. “Hate you? Then, these last few years-“ He cut himself off by pressing his lips against Akira’s.

It was a shock, the cool lips against his own but covered by this curtain of blue all Akira could do was kiss him back. He had not hated Yusuke. Someone as beautiful as him- he had just been agonizing. Beautiful but agonizing. Akira had teased, run his mouth but he had always extended his hand.” He wrapped his hand around Yusuke’s nape and pulled him so that they both tumbled to the floor. Yusuke covered him as their kiss resumed. Was that why he had always extended his hand? He had been hoping for something like this?

**Author's Note:**

> *deep prayer* don't let me fall into that fandom and start writing for it. I have so many fandoms already


End file.
